Farmboy becomes King with the Lust System Chapter 260: Elise’s disobedience

Amidst the scattered talk, Elise’s gentler words wove through like a different sort of heat. She didn't raise her voice. There was no need. "Jae..." She placed a hand on another cadet's arm, her mana flowing with a steady, cool current, stemming his bleeding.

Her gaze shifted towards the heart of the turmoil, where Jae was at his most radiant. "Your instincts. You anticipated this." Her voice faltered, but not from apprehension. It was the sound of absolute certainty.

"You keep them steady because you don't merely fight," she breathed, a comment partly for herself and partly for him across the expanse of the battlefield. "You observe."

Jae offered no reply. It wasn't necessary. The smirk that played on his lips, unyielding even as his blade set the night aflame, conveyed everything.

Veynar's dramatic display intensified. His cloak billowed behind him as he executed a spectacular spin with his spear, the weapon a shimmering streak of silver. "Yes! Yes! Illuminate the night brighter, farmboy! Should you fall this night, your name will be etched into history with your very ashes!"

Once more, his spear met the inferno. Shards of light shrieked into the heavens, flames hissed as they collided with gleaming steel, and the entire camp seemed to suspend its breath.

The southern edge erupted in screams.

Not in spoken words, but in the sickening crack of shields, the desperate cries of men, and the wet thud of arrows finding flesh. The very sky appeared to dim under the relentless volley of shafts, a dark tempest obscuring the distant stars.

Jae's fire waged war against this onslaught, slicing through the darkness like an unwavering beacon. Each swing of his sword illuminated the battleground, the flames expanding outwards in controlled arcs, incinerating raiders where they stood. He was more than just a combatant; he was the linchpin holding the line together through sheer force of will, his fire a steadfast lighthouse in an ocean of dread.

Cadets stood shoulder-to-shoulder, their shields quivering in their grasp. Some murmured silent prayers, while others clenched their jaws, bracing against the relentless pressure, straining against the overwhelming tide. Byun’s shadows filled the gaps between them, ephemeral ribbons of darkness rising like makeshift ramparts whenever a shield shattered or a comrade fell.

Yet, even this was tragically insufficient.

The relentless storm of arrows mowed down soldiers faster than they could be evacuated. Shrieks tore through the night, high-pitched and piercing, inflicting wounds deeper than any blade could manage. Blood painted the ground beneath their boots, a warm, viscous carpet.

"Fall back!" a commander's voice boomed from an unseen distance, barely audible above the deafening clangor of combat. "Retreat to the second line!"

The command echoed, passed down through the ranks like a ripple, but Elise seemed not to register it. Or perhaps she heard, and simply chose to keep it at bay.

Her world contracted to the young man collapsing scant feet away, an arrow deeply embedded in his side. He appeared no older than herself, perhaps seventeen or eighteen. His lips had already taken on a pallor of death.

Without a second thought, she knelt, her skirts gathering around her in the mud. Mana flowed from her palms in continuous, luminous strands, infusing his form. His breathing eased, his chest rising with less desperation. The arrow extracted itself with a soft sigh, the bleeding slowing, then ceasing entirely. His eyes flickered open, dazed but alive.

"Return to the rear lines! Medics only!"

This voice sliced through the chaos. It was Sun's voice. Crisp and decisive, its harshness felt like a physical blow. As commanding as ever, each syllable sharp with the absolute expectation of obedience.

Elise remained frozen for a single, suspended moment. Her training screamed at her to comply. Medics operated behind the front lines, in relative safety, to tend to the wounded without being cut down themselves. That was the established protocol. That was the path to survival.

But her eyes lifted nonetheless, against her will. And they did not turn towards Sun.

They found Jae.

He stood amidst the thickest fighting, fire erupting from his blade in wide, powerful arcs. His smirk pierced the smoke and the blood-soaked air, not with arrogance, but with pure defiance, a stubborn challenge hurled at everything seeking their destruction. Around him, the cadets drew themselves up straighter. Around him, their fear transmuted into unyielding resolve.

He was not merely fighting; he was their unshakeable anchor.

A tightness seized her chest. She understood, suddenly and with a piercing clarity, precisely where she was meant to be.

She surged forward before a second thought could take hold, her skirts swirling around her as she broke away from the relatively safer formations. Arrows hissed through the air above, blades clashed with a terrifying proximity, yet she did not waver. Her hands blazed with intensified light as she plunged into the thick of the battle, right beside Jae's contingent.

A cadet stumbled, blood staining his sleeve. Elise caught him, her palm pressing firmly against the wound, her mana pouring into the torn flesh until it sealed sufficiently for him to raise his sword once more. Another fighter gasped as an arrow grazed his thigh; she stanched the flow of blood in mere seconds, pushing him onward before he could succumb.

Byun noticed her arrival first. Shadows erupted outwards, ensnaring a raider's ankle and toppling him before his weapon could strike her. Byun's grin flashed, sharp and mocking amidst the swirling pandemonium.

"Well, well," he sang out amid the clamor. "It appears the timid one has swapped her rear vantage point for the vanguard." His shadowy tendrils writhed, violently dragging a raider, shrieking, into the gloom. "A courageous maneuver, healer. Do you intend to deliver a lecture on prudent combat techniques while you are there?"

Elise offered no verbal reply, merely a sharp, decisive shake of her head as beads of perspiration traced paths down her temples. Once more, her hands emanated a soft glow as she pressed them against the gaping wound on another cadet's shoulder. The young man gasped, his pallor rapidly receding as color returned to his cheeks. Elise's voice, though gentle, resonated with unwavering firmness, cutting through the chaos. "If I remain in the rear, they will perish long before they ever reach my position. However, here" – she channeled more mana into the injury, her fingers trembling as they sealed the flesh – "here, I can sustain their ability to fight."

Byun's smirk grew wider, shadows swirling with unrestrained energy around his arms. "I find her more appealing in this state," he murmured. "Courageous spirit, ablaze with passion."

Tirel advanced with fluid grace, her movements akin to a dance amidst the carnage and mire, flames caressing her fingertips in languid, deliberate wisps. Her lips formed a sultry, provocative smile. "Mm. I had no idea you possessed such mettle, my dear." She inclined her head towards Jae, the firelight catching the mischievous glint in her eyes. "He must be influencing you significantly."

Her smirk intensified, her voice laden with playful teasing. "Quite literally, I suspect, one fine day."

Elise's face flushed a fiery crimson, the tips of her ears feeling considerably warmer than Tirel's conjured flames. Yet, she steadfastly refused to be provoked, offering not a single word in response to the playful jests.